Camoapa lies on the Pacific Coast Range of Nicaragua's Great Divide. Though widely seperated geographically, there are some similarities between the two towns. Camoapa has a population of 12,000 inside the city limits, with approximately another 13,000 served by the municipality. Camoapa receive over 40 inches of rain annuallyt, with the rainy season running from May through December. The major industry of the area is agriculture - primarily cattle.
The Sister City Project is non-political in nature, and does not endorse, nor comdemn any particular government. There is a Sister City Committee in place in Camoapa, that consists of group residents representing a wide spectrum of social, political and economic veiws. It has been demonstrated time and again that people can be brought together and develop international understanding outside of changing political tides.
In the spring of 1988, a group of dentists went down, and in just a seek, they treated over 700 people, mostly children of the town. Over the years, more people have traveled to Camoapa to do work on special projects. There has been work in the schools, including a pen-pal exchange program, well projects that have brought clean and accessible water to remote areas of the town, completion of latrines in outlying areas, and a second addition to the health clinic.
There have also been a number of Camoapans to travel to our area. The first was the Camoapa's mayor at the time, Rosaura Salazar Ocon. She spent a month here meeting people and experiencing life in Humboldt County. since that time, there has been an artisan come to learn how crafts people work their trades here, followed by a group of cattlemen, who spent time touring ranches in our area. A midwife from Camoapa also was able to visit and spend a month visiting nearby clinics and hospitals, and observing educational programs for teenagers and observing family planning trainings.
For the past several years there has been an ongoing English as a Second Language Program sponsered by the Sister City Project. The program has been very populat, as well as successful. While there currently are no teachers from Humboldt County in Camoapa, the program has been taken over by the more advanced student who continue to teach English to anyone interested in learning.
By American standards, Camoapa is a small town. In Nicaragua however, it is considered a city, or at least a small city. It is located about 2 and a half hours from the capital, Managua. The town has about five paved streets (cobble stone), while the rest of the streets are gravel and dirt, and mud during the rainy season. The streets are not named or numbered, and directions are given from the Church, The Health Clinic, TELCOR (phone company), and from other well known landmarks. The center of Camoapa is well developed, but as you move away from the center of town, poorer areas preside.
Camoapa's Health Clinic takes care of minor medical needs. Such as child birth, first-aid and treatment of diarrhea. The nearest hospital is in Boaco, about three fourths of an hour away by car, and one and a half hours by bus. At the Health Clinic, volunteers can find free medical help and sometimes medicine. It is recommended going to a private doctor for any serious health problems, as they usually have more experience than doctors in the clinic.
If you are a vegetarian, you may have some difficulty getting enough to eat while in Camoapa. It is not impossible, but it is difficult to eat a balanced diet there without eating meat. At the beginning of the Sister City Project, it was completely foreign to Camoapans when people from here would not eat meat. While they have become more accustomed to it, it is still a bit difficult to understand. Being able to eat meat is considered a luxery, and the concept of vegetarianism is not one that is easily understood. A word of warning: If you are a vegetarianhere, and decide to eat meat while you are there, start off slowly...your system could go into shock as a result.